


Mixing up the Routine

by Doevademe (OriginalDaemon)



Series: Changes in Our Relationship [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Nico is done, Percy is a Dork, Pre-Slash, The beginning of a Percico Domestic life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7898722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OriginalDaemon/pseuds/Doevademe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 years after Gaia's defeat, Nico is trying to live a regular life in New Rome. It's a little boring after all he has gone through, but that's not a bad thing.</p><p>But then Percy Jackson had to appear out of nowhere</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mixing up the Routine

**Author's Note:**

> For Percico Positivity Project day 11: "Reunion". Just a small something that could turn into a series of domestic little drabbles in the future, if inspiration strikes.

Nico di Angelo woke up with a start and looked around to see his familiar apartment in New Rome.

“Well, that’s new,” he said to himself as he tried to shake off the sleep. For the first time since he had moved, he was awake early. His eyes fell on his alarm clock. Indeed, he still had 10 minutes before it went off.

He shrugged and decided to start his day early, walking groggily towards his bathroom.

During the five years since Gaia’s defeat, too much had changed for him. While he still helped his father from time to time with Underworld odd jobs, he had grown distant from most of his friends from camp, preferring to live in a cozy small apartment away even from his old roman friends.

Not to say he was completely antisocial. He still talked with Jason every other month (he forced him, but still), and he always made time to meet with Reyna and Hazel at least once a week. But in a way, it seemed like they all lived completely different lives now. Without the end of the world forcing them together, they had naturally drifted apart.

Piper was now dating some guy she had met at one of her college classes, and last he knew, the guy had proposed to her. Leo had opened his workshop in LA, and he was doing alright with Calypso, who visited him often. Frank and Hazel were still going strong, being the only couple out of their group of friends who had managed to stay together past adulthood. Annabeth was now working on getting her master’s degree, having signed up for classes even before she had finished getting her title.

And Percy… well, Percy had entered a small life crisis according to Jason. He believed had topped too early, apparently, and didn’t know what to do with his life now. He was working as a counselor at camp, and had his own apartment down in New York. A normal life, one would guess, but he always looked like he wanted to be somewhere else at any given moment.

Not that Nico would know, he had hightailed out of Camp Half-Blood and never looked back after he and Will had one of the nastiest break ups in history. He just hadn’t had the chance to meet with Percy Jackson for nearly 3 years.

After he finished his shower he got dressed and walked calmly towards class. Thankfully enough, college wasn’t kicking his ass, considering the fact that he didn’t have a proper High School education. Still, he guessed Reyna was the one who had moved the strings to have him accepted in the first place.

His classes were mostly inane and boring that day. He was still undecided when it came to his major, and was mostly going through the motions. After years of adventure, monsters and gods, he wanted a normal life.

No one told him a normal life could be so boring, though.

When he came back to his apartment, he was quite surprised to find a young man slumped against his door, apparently sleeping. A Blue duffel bag rested at his side.

“Excuse me? I kind of live here,” he said in the most neutral voice he could, shaking the man awake with his foot.

He was greeted by sea green eyes looking at him in surprise.

“Nico! It’s been a while, right? I wasn’t sure if Jason gave me the right address,” Percy Jackson said as he got up with a skip and offered his hand. Nico only stared at it for about 10 seconds before it dropped awkwardly. “Um… is this a bad moment? I mean, I know I could have called, but I thought, hey, last 3 times I did you never had time, so I just went with it, you know? And Jason said you probably need more human contact anyways, but I can always come back another day if—”

“You’re rambling,” was the first words that Nico could get out. Percy ducked his head and gave him an embarrassed smile. “What are you doing here, Percy?”

“I just wanted to catch up,” Percy said, almost defensively. “You basically dropped off the face of the Earth, man. Did you know that up until Christmas last year I thought you lived in the Underworld?”

“I’ve been busy with school. Besides, it’s not like we talked much outside end of the world stuff,” he fished his keys from his pocket and opened the door. Percy looked like he was about to protest once more, but he just went inside and left the door open.

That was the only invitation he was getting. Percy could take it or leave it.

“Are you mad at me?” Percy asked as he closed the door behind him. Nico sighed as he went to the kitchen to make some coffee. “Because if so, let me tell you, communication is a two-way street, Nico. At least I _tried_ to get in contact.”

“I’m not mad, just stating a fact,” Nico said as the coffee maker began whirling to life. “Coffee is okay, right?” He turned to look at him, Percy nodded.

“It shouldn’t be, though,” Percy muttered as he sat on a stool near him. “Like, don’t you feel like we should be closer? After all that happened, we should be like, best friends or something, yet we’re not.”

“We’re friends, Percy. I’m just crap at keeping touch,” he said, hoping Percy would take the same excuse he gave Jason.

“Yeah, right,” No such luck. “If we were friends, you’ll take me up on an offer when I told you to hang out. You would have been there when I proposed to Annabeth. You would have been there when I destroyed half the apartment after she said no. You would have at least called when you found out through _Jason_.”

“Is this why you’re here? To tell me how we’re not friends?” Nico said with a raised eyebrow and handed him his cup of coffee. “That doesn’t seem very healthy.”

“It’s not, but that’s what’s missing,” Percy said defiantly. Nico just looked at him, bemused. “I have seriously looked at it from every angle, Nico, and it doesn’t make sense. I have gone on some quests, I’m still friends with Annabeth, I have dated other people, yet it still feels like something is missing. And I’m sure it’s you!”

“H-How do you even reach that conclusion?” Nico said, feeling himself blush. Was Percy coming on to him?

“Ever since you stormed out of camp, by the way, Will still glares whenever he hears your name,” Nico just looked at him, unimpressed. “I’ve been… bored, I guess. Not unhappy or anything, but something was always missing.”

“I’m not the answer to you having a mid-life crisis at 23,” Nico said, incredulous. “That you can’t find meaning in what you do doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“But it does!” Percy insisted. “I was plenty happy when we shared a camp. You go away, I begin feeling bored. I try to get over it, I break up with my girlfriend; it all fits!”

“It finally happened. You’re insane,” Nico placed his cup on the table, he’s not sure when they moved to the living room. Maybe during Percy’s deranged rant. “What do I have to do with anything?”

“That’s what I want to find out.” He didn’t deny Nico’s accusation, which honestly just made him more suspicious.

“Okay, let’s say you’re right. Let’s say we’re what’s missing from each other’s lives” Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. Unbelievable, even after all these years, he still humored Percy Jackson in pretty much anything. “How do you plan on fixing it?”

“I was thinking… wait, is something missing with you, too?” Nico didn’t like the way Percy grinned. In fact, he was debating right now whether to throw him out or not.

“Focus,” was all he said. Percy’s smile widened even more.

“Just let me stay with you for a couple days, okay?” Percy said as he opened his bag to reveal it was filled with clothes and… was that his toothbrush? Sneaky little bastard. “If we’re still feeling like something’s missing, then I’m out of ideas, but if not—”

“Okay,” Nico said, already tired of dealing with this much Percy. The son of Poseidon just looked at him surprised, apparently having already pitched a whole speech to sell him on the idea. “But when you realize it’s not working, you go back to New York. You’ll have to sleep on the couch. Room’s too small.”

“Uh… okay,” Percy appeared to be speechless. Finally.

Nico got up and got to the phone he kept in the kitchen.

“I’m ordering takeout. Any preference?” Percy just shook his head. Nico sighed and decided to call the Indian place across the street.

It was bizarre, how easy it was to act like this was not the weirdest thing that had happened to him in 5 years (and that was counting the monsters and underworld visits). How he accepted Percy’s proposal as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he didn’t know.

Well, just an hour ago Nico had been thinking about how normal was boring after a life of adventure. He didn’t think something was missing in his life, like Percy, and maybe the Son of Poseidon really was crazy now that there was nothing to do and he was just enabling him.

“Make sure the curry’s extra spicy!”

But it was worth a try. If only to stave off boredom.

He looked at Percy to tell him off when he saw him already undressing to change into his pajamas for the day. He felt his face grow hot.

Yep, it definitely wouldn’t be boring for at least the next couple days.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally had planned for this prompt to be about Percy and Nico remembering they were lovers in a previous life and trying to work through that, but the characters (especially Nico) resisted that plot. Oh well, maybe some other time.


End file.
